Coin-controlled vending machine



.Jmm, 11923.

A. D. GROVER. ColN CONTROLLED VENDING MACH NE.

1917 2 SHEETS'SHEET 1 ORIGINAL Fl LED Auc 20,

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ORIGINAL FILED AUG, 20,

Jam, 23, 1923..

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GWEN-CONTROLLED "VENDING- MACHJENJE.

driginal fapplication ii'led' fiiugnst 10,

My invention relates to coin-controlled vending machines, and has forits'objectthe provision ofa machine of small dimensions, especiallyadapted for use in theatres and other :places where but little space isavailable for accommodating vending machines. The machine of myinvention is particularly adapted to sell cylindrical packages, althoughit is by no means limited to any special form or style of package.

- The various features of novelty residing in my invention will becomeclear from a detailed description of the accompanying drawings whichshow a preferred embodiment of my invention.

In these drawings,

Fig. 1 representsa rear viewofa machine embodying my invention, the backof the casing .being removed and the parts being in normal position. i

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2of Fig. 1, looking in the direction ofthe arrows.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view in section on line-33 of Fig. .1, showinghow the coincontrolled actuating lever is locked against movement whenthe supply of goods is exhausted.

ig. 4 is a cross-sectional plan view on line l-Aof Fig. 1, lookingdownward.

Fig. 5is a side elevation of the machine shown in Fig. 1 with aportion'of the casing broken away to show the working parts.

.Fig. 6 isa view similar to Fig. 1, showing the parts in fully operatedposition.

Fig. 7 isacletached view in perspective of the magazine orgoods-compartment, showing1 the coin receptacle attached thereto; an

Figs. 8 and 9 are detached views in perspective of the two parts whichconstitute 50 thecoin receptacle.

The. outer casing of the machine is preferab'lyconstructed in twosections,--a front section A and a rear section B. The front sectionAcomprises a. front plate 1, side 1917, Serial no. i e7,-aoe. ,nivmeaand emanates filtciiriiiie 28,1921. Seriallil'outfidfill'i.

pieces and a bottom 3 which termiliates at the point'eg as indlcatedinFigs fl and 5 v The rear section B of the casing consists of a rearplate5, top 6, side-flanges 7 and a bottom flange 8. The top 6 is providedwith a front flange 9, which meets the'upper edge of the front plate 1along theline indicatedat 10 in 'Figs.2 and 5. y

When the sections A and B are assembled,the side pieces 2' oi the frontsection A abut against the side flanges 7; of therear section B alongthe line indicated at 11in Figs. 12 and 5. In this way a closed {casingisiormed. Thetwo sectionsare held looked together; by any suitablelocking mechanism which I havcnot deemed necessaryto show or describe,as it forms no part'of mypresentinvention. J x

lVithinithe casing is mounted the'magazine or goods-compartmentindicated as a wholelbyylvl. This magazine is preferably formed oftsheet metal and comprisesaffront wall 12, sides Walls liiand inwardlyextendlng rear flanges 14:. The magazine M is 'secured within the casingof the machine in the sake of brevity, T will hereinafter refer to themember D as the delivery cylinder, without thereby intending to limitmyself to the cylindrical form shown in thedrawings. The particular formof this delivery cylinder will depend upon the form or style of thepackages to be vended.

The delivery cylinder D is mounted in the sides of the casing by pivotpins or studs 20. The delivery cylinder is so arranged with respect'tothe magazine M that in its normal position it receives the lowermostpackage P, as shown in Fig. 2, the remaining pa'cltages P being heldinthe magazine proper by the bottom package.

The delivery cylinder D isactuated into delivery position by a bar 21mounted at one. side of the casing. At its lower end, the bar 21 isprovided with a .vertical slot 22 and a horizontal slot- 23. Thevertical slot 22 engages the pivot pin 20 and thereby guides the bar inits up and down movements. The slot 23 engages a pin 2% projecting fromthe disk 18, whereby the vertical movements of the bar 21 produce rotarymovement of the delivery cylinder. These oscillatory movements of thedelivery cylinder are limited by the fixed stop 2d engaging in thecurved slot 25 of the disk 18. Any other suitable means may be employedfor limiting the movements of the delivery cylinder D.

At is upper end, the bar 21 is provided with a transverse extension 26which carries a pin or stud 27 arranged to engage in the slot 28 formedin one end of the bell-crank lever 29. This lever is pivoted at 30 tothe front wall of the casing, and is at its upper end provided with aforwardly extending pin 31 which extends into the coin-passage 32, asbest shown in Fig. 2. The bell-crank lever 29 is normally held in theposition shown'in Fig. 1 by a contractile spring 33, which has one endfastened to the pin 3a of the lever29 and the other end of a pin 35fixed to the casing. A fixed stop 36 limits the movement of the lever 29under the action of "the spring 33.

The slot 28 of the bell-cranklever 29 has a concentric portion 28 and anangular portion 28, the purpose of which will be presently explained.

- The casing is provided with a fixed stop 37. When the bar 21 is innormal position,

the outer end of the transverse extension 26 thereof is below the stop37. as in Fig. 1, so that the extension 26 must first be moved laterallyout of the way of the stop 37 before the bar 21 can be moved vertically.This preliminary release or unlocking of the bar 21 before its operativemovement can take place, is effected by the angular portion 28 of theslot 28. Further movement of the lever 29 brings the concentric portion28 of the slot 28 into engagement with the pin 27; This movement of thelever 29' until the bottom of the slot 28 reaches the pin'27, has noeffect upon the bar 21, for the portion 28 of the slot 28 is concentricwith the pivot/3O of the lever. In that particular form of machineillustrated, this lost motion of the bell-crank lever 29 is for thepurpose of testing the deposited coin C which engages the pin 31 of thelever 29. The deposited coin is carried against the pin 31 by anysuitable means, such as a coin disk 38,

I which is operated from the outside of the casing by a knob 39. So faras the ejecting mechanism of my invention is concerned, any suitablemeans may be employed for actuating the bell-crank lever 29 from the outside of the casing.

After the bottom of the slot 28 has reached the pin 27, continuedforward movement of the lever 29 raises the bar 21. This upward movementof the bar 21 causes the delivery cylinder D to rotate in the directionof the arrow 1), as indicated in Figs. 2and 5,whereby the bottom pieceof goods is discharged, into the position indicated at P in Figs. 2 and5.

provided to receive the package as it drops from the cylinder and toguide it toward the front of the casing, as shown. The side walls of thecasing are provided with openings 40 through which the ejected packageis removed by the purchaser.

It will be clear from the foregoing that the fixed stop 37 positivelyprevents operation of the delivery cylinder from helowas by anii'istrumeut inserted through the delivery opening in an effort to rockthe cylinder. Should an attempt he made to operate the cylinder in anyother way than through the medium of the lever 29, the extension 26 willstrike the lived stop 3? and the delivery cylinder is at once lockedagainst movement.

As soon as the coin C passes out of engage ment with the pin 31 ot' thelever 29, the spring 33 returns the lever and its connected parts(namely, the bar 21 and the. delivery cylinder D) to normal position.During the delivery position of the cylinder l), ihe column of goodsrests upon the outer surface of the main section 1?. As the cylinder 1)reaches its normal position, the lowermost package drops down into thecylinder, as shown in Fig. 2, and the machine ready to deliver the nextpiece of goods.

In order to prevent the loss or a coin to an intending purchaser whenthe supply of goods is exhausted, I provide means for locklng the member29 in normal position after the last piece oi goods has been ejected. Apawl 42 is pivoted intermediate its ends on a pin or lug 43 carried bythe ln-aeket tlwhich is secured to the front plate 1 of the casing byany suitable means. such as rivets 45. At its upper end. the pawl 42 isprovided with a hook 4G, and at its lower end with a hook 4-7. The shellsection 17 of the delivery cylinder D has an opening 48 through whichthe hook 4? o t the pawl 42 extends when the delivery cylinder is empty.YJhen there is a package in the delivery vyl inder. as indicated in Fig.2 or when the cylinder in delivery position. as indicated in Fig. 5, thepawl 42 is held in such position that the upper hook i6 is out of thepath of movement of the lever 29. However, after the last piece of goodshas been ejected and the parts have returned to normal position, thelower hook 47 snaps into the opening 48 under the action of the spring49, and the upper hook 46 engages the shoulder 50 or the lever 29,thereby positively locking the lever against forward movement.Consequently, when the lever 29 is thus locked, the deposited coin Ccannot be carried further into the machine than indir'r slanting guideetl is preferably emon cated in Fig. 1. However, the coin-carrier 38 isfree to be rotated in the opposite direction to carry the coin C backthrough the coin-entrance slot 51, whence it may be removed by thepurchaser.

When the deposited coin is discharged from between the coin-carrier 38and the pin 31 of the lever 29, it falls rearwardly through the opening52 into the chamber 58 formed between the front wall of the magazinc andthe front wall of the casing. At the bottom of this chamber is acoin-retaining piece ti on which the discharged coins rest. In theparticular embodiment shown in the drawings, the coin-retaining piece 54is pivotally connected with the vertical strip :35 secured to the frontwall 12 of the magazine M. The pivotal connection between the pieces54-. and 55 may be effected by simply providing notches 56 and 57bymeans of which the two pieces can be pivotally fitted together, asbest shown in Fig. 7. The coinretaining piece 545 is normally held incoinretaining position by a vertically slidable bar-.158 mounted on lugs59 carried by the front wall 12 of the magazine. The lugs 59 engage inthe slots 60 of the bar 58. When the two sections of the casing areassembled, the upper end of the bar 58 rests against the top of thecasing, as indicated in Fig. 2, and thereby holds the coin-retainingpiece 5 1 in horizontal position. When the front section A is removedfromthe rear or stationary section B, which is intended to be fastenedto a suitable support (as for instance, a theatre chair), the weight ofthe coins on the retaining piece 54 will over-balance the weight of thebar 58 and tilt the piece 54% downwardly to release the coins. When thefront section A isput back on the rear sec tion B, after the coins havebeen collected and the machine replenished, the bar 58 must be forceddown so as to fit within the top 6 of the rear section, and this forcingdown of the bar 58 swings the retaining piece 5th into normal orcoin-retaining position. In other words, the coin-trap which l haveprovided for receiving the discharged coins, must be inclosed positionbefore the front section can be put back in place on the rear section ofthe casing.

This application is a division of my copending application, SerialNumber 187,206, filed ilrugust 20, 1917, and the claims herein aredirected to the coin-controlled features. Although I have herein shownand described a machine of specific construction, ll would have itunderstood that the various features of my invention are not limited tothe details of construction set forth. It isobvious that changes ormodifications may be made without departing from the invention asdefined in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a coin-controlled vending machine, a casing provided with amagazine for the vendable articles, coin-controlled mechanism forejecting the articles from said magazine, a movable coin-retaining levercarried by said magazine for holding the discharged coins within thecasing, and movable means mounted on said magazine for causing saidmember to release the coins.

2. In a coin-controlled vending machine, a casing provided with amagazine for the vendable articles, coin-controlled mechanism forejecting the articles from said magazine, a pivoted trap mounted on saidmagazine for holding the discharged coins within the casing, and aslidable bar also mounted on said magazine for operating said member torelease the coins.

3. In a coin-controlled vending machine, a casing comprising a pair ofseparable sections, a magazine for containing the vendable article, anormally closed trap within said casing for retaining the dischargedcoins, and means automatically operable upon the separation of saidsections for opening said trap to release the coins.

a. In a coin-controlled vending machine, a casing comprising a pair ofseparable sections, a magazine for containing the vendable article,coin-controlled mechanism for ejecting the articles, a normally closedtrap within said casing for retaining the discharged coins, and avertically slidable bar automatically operable upon the separation ofsaid sections for opening said trap to release the coins.

atnnnr n. enovnn.

